2021 Imola GP Race Discussion

After another banger of a race at the historic track of Imola, we share our thoughts about the race. In this episode we discuss:Race startSafety Car!Everyone SbinallaMcLaren Team OrdersLando NorrisPenalities Galore!Poor RicciardoBottas Vs Russel#Blessed - Lewis HamiltonMazespin Again?Vettel cant catch a breakMore Penalties?!5 sec penalty to everyone for not listening till the end!Music:Intro: Howling (Sting) - Gunnar OlsenOutro: Your Intro by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Artist: http://audionautix.com/FanFiction By Anirudh Mendiratta @MontanaDesi on Twitter

**Race Recap:**

* The race started with Sergio Perez overtaking Max Verstappen, marking a rare occurrence of a second Red Bull driver leading the race.
* Lando Norris had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, costing him a potential P2 finish.
* Nikita Mazepin finished his first-ever F1 race, a significant achievement for the rookie driver.
* The race was action-packed, with several overtakes and incidents, including a safety car period caused by Latifi's crash.
* Max Verstappen took the lead after the restart, followed by Lewis Hamilton.
* Multiple drivers, including Leclerc, Perez, and Schumacher, spun out during the race, leading to safety car interventions and position changes.
* Lando Norris impressed with his overtaking moves, particularly in the wet conditions.
* McLaren employed team orders to allow Lando Norris to challenge for a higher position, highlighting the team's strategic approach.
* Sergio Perez received a penalty for overtaking during a safety car period, while Esteban Ocon was penalized for a pit lane infringement.
* The race was red-flagged due to a heavy crash involving George Russell and Valtteri Bottas.
* Lewis Hamilton made a mistake and crashed while trying to overtake Russell, dropping him down the order.
* The race resumed after a lengthy delay, with Max Verstappen maintaining his lead and securing the victory.
* Sebastian Vettel received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for a gearbox issue, further hindering his disappointing weekend.
* Sergio Perez also received a penalty for overtaking during a safety car period, adding to the list of penalties issued during the race.
* Daniel Ricciardo struggled with pace and made several mistakes, including a slow pit stop, highlighting his ongoing difficulties with the McLaren car.
* Carlos Sainz had a strong race, finishing in P5 despite making errors, showcasing the competitiveness of the Ferrari.
* The stewards' decisions, particularly regarding penalties and incidents, were questioned by some, leading to discussions about consistency and fairness in officiating.
* The race ended with Max Verstappen taking the checkered flag, followed by Sergio Perez and Lando Norris on the podium.



**Race Start:**

* The race began with a chaotic start, as several drivers collided in the first corner.
* Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole position, made a mistake and dropped down the order.
* Max Verstappen took the lead, followed by Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.

**Safety Car and Red Flag:**

* A safety car was deployed after a crash involving George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.
* During the safety car period, Hamilton pitted for repairs, giving him a chance to reset and recover.
* A red flag was shown due to heavy rain, causing the race to be stopped.

**Rolling Restart:**

* The race resumed with a rolling restart, with Verstappen leading the pack.
* Verstappen spun out at the restart, but was able to recover and maintain his position.
* Hamilton charged through the field, overtaking several cars to move up to second place.

**Hamilton's Comeback:**

* Hamilton's pace was impressive as he closed the gap to Verstappen.
* He eventually overtook Verstappen for the lead and went on to win the race.
* Hamilton's victory marked his 93rd career win, extending his record.

**Penalties and Controversies:**

* Several drivers received penalties during and after the race.
* Kimi Raikkonen was penalized for not overtaking under the safety car, sparking controversy.
* Lance Stroll was also penalized for an illegal overtake on Pierre Gasly.
* The inconsistency and timing of the penalties drew criticism from fans and pundits.

**Other Notable Moments:**

* Lando Norris drove an impressive race, finishing in third place and earning Driver of the Day honors.
* Carlos Sainz Jr. had a strong performance, finishing in fifth place.
* Sebastian Vettel's race was hampered by gearbox issues, forcing him to start from the pits.
* Nikita Mazepin spun off the track, continuing his trend of incidents.

**Conclusion:**

The Imola Grand Prix was a captivating race, filled with drama, excitement, and controversy. Hamilton's dominant performance and the midfield battles made for an entertaining spectacle. The race also highlighted the need for consistency and clarity in penalty decisions. As the Formula One season continues, fans can expect more thrilling races and intense competition.

[00:00.000 -> 00:08.240] FI basically gave a penalty for overtaking under a safety car as well as for not overtaking under a safety car.
[00:08.240 -> 00:12.000] Get your shit together man. Like what the hell is going on?
[00:18.640 -> 00:23.760] Hello and welcome back to yet another episode with F1 Fan Fiction.
[00:23.760 -> 00:25.080] We are your hosts.
[00:25.320 -> 00:28.440] I am Akash and I'm Sarang and let's get into it.
[00:28.880 -> 00:34.000] Um, Imola an amazing weekend, a thrilling weekend, but before we begin,
[00:34.400 -> 00:38.600] um, we are hosts want to congratulate Nikita Mazepin.
[00:38.600 -> 00:43.400] The kids finished his first ever race in F1, a huge achievement.
[00:49.680 -> 00:56.880] But what a weekend, what a weekend. I think one highlight before we get into the race day, Lando Norris, poor kid, getting his lap time deleted for
[00:56.880 -> 01:02.400] overstepping bounds. Otherwise, we would have seen him on P2. Nonetheless, he ended there. So
[01:02.400 -> 01:06.080] it's a win-win situation, but a sad Saturday for the kid
[01:07.440 -> 01:15.360] going into an amazing weekend. So starting from race start lights out, it was just action-packed.
[01:16.320 -> 01:19.680] Take us through your emotions with that lights out, Saran.
[01:20.240 -> 01:26.240] Yeah, I mean, I was super excited for the race. Uh, first of all, as you said, right, like qualification itself was pretty
[01:26.240 -> 01:31.560] amazing, uh, to think of it, you know, for the first time, probably like we
[01:31.560 -> 01:36.180] had the situation where there was just one Mercedes car, uh, at the front and
[01:36.180 -> 01:39.960] two Red Bulls, which is, I don't think remember when was the last time that
[01:39.960 -> 01:40.540] this happened.
[01:41.100 -> 01:45.520] And, uh, so yeah, I mean, we knew that the race is going to be pretty
[01:45.520 -> 01:52.520] exciting at the start. And Sergio Perez beating Max. Wow. I had never imagined
[01:52.520 -> 01:54.440] that Max would be beaten by any teammate.
[01:55.000 -> 01:59.120] When was the last time a second Red Bull was ahead of Max, right?
[01:59.280 -> 02:04.720] Exactly. Yeah. I mean, that too with Max having no issues at all. Like I think
[02:04.720 -> 02:07.580] that probably has happened with, you know, him having some issues
[02:07.580 -> 02:14.020] or something, I remember that Albon was in one race ahead, but yeah, on pure
[02:14.020 -> 02:16.040] pace, I don't think I've ever seen that.
[02:16.540 -> 02:17.780] Uh, yeah.
[02:17.820 -> 02:27.840] So, you know, so I was pretty excited to see the race and the, one of the, of the even more exciting things was that it was a
[02:27.840 -> 02:34.160] wet race. So wow, that that's something that you can always expect entertainment when it's wet,
[02:34.160 -> 02:40.320] right? So exactly. Yep. And I remember like, you know, throughout the week, I was seeing
[02:40.960 -> 02:45.760] all these news reports about, you know, there's a possibility of rain and you know,
[02:45.760 -> 02:50.160] how it goes whenever somebody says there's going to be rain, it's always sunny and dry.
[02:52.320 -> 02:57.120] But this time around, turns out they were right. But it's like, you know, when you,
[02:57.120 -> 03:11.240] when you make a hundred guesses, you are correct ones. So yeah, so either ways, I think that that was beneficial to us. Uh, it delivered very exciting race and, uh, yeah, the restart was simply amazing.
[03:11.240 -> 03:17.060] I mean, the restarted worst happened, got a very good start of the race.
[03:17.060 -> 03:23.280] And I think even before they reached turn one, he had already next to Hamilton by then.
[03:23.280 -> 03:23.480] Right.
[03:23.480 -> 03:29.440] I think that first left overtake was, was just a splendid inside move.
[03:29.560 -> 03:34.040] Yeah. And that was typical Max, like, you know, that aggression of not
[03:34.160 -> 03:38.480] giving the space, but at the same time, it was a fair move.
[03:38.520 -> 03:43.840] I mean, he was, he was a bit ahead of Hamilton and
[03:44.560 -> 03:48.000] yeah, I could see him take off Hamilton on the bump.
[03:48.000 -> 03:50.000] That was pretty awesome.
[03:50.000 -> 03:52.000] It was a nice thing to see.
[03:52.000 -> 03:56.000] Max being P3, I was like, yeah, he's out on the grid.
[03:56.000 -> 04:01.000] But my first immediate thought after that was like, he's going to be on the race line right behind Hamilton.
[04:01.000 -> 04:03.000] So that is slightly advantageous.
[04:03.000 -> 04:06.480] And yeah, Max took a hundred percent advantage on that.
[04:06.480 -> 04:13.760] So yeah, that, that first left overtake, I was, I was filled with joy when I could see Hamilton's
[04:13.760 -> 04:19.760] car going over those bumps, shaking, and I was like, wow. And then a mixed emotion with like
[04:19.760 -> 04:26.380] Perez probably spinning or, you know what he was like out of the, out of the tracks or the rain, the rain catching the better of them.
[04:26.380 -> 04:30.480] So yeah, that, that race start was just amazing.
[04:30.560 -> 04:34.760] Um, but, but it just didn't end there, right?
[04:34.760 -> 04:39.800] Like, uh, soon after the race started, obviously wet conditions,
[04:40.080 -> 04:43.780] everyone's on those wet tires and they're driving on their trace line.
[04:43.780 -> 04:47.080] So it's going to be just that one line on the race.
[04:47.080 -> 04:49.280] That's going to be dry-ish in quotes.
[04:49.960 -> 04:55.360] And then you can see, I think initially right after the restart, um, Latifi
[04:55.360 -> 05:00.680] going slightly off that line, spinning, crashing, causing a safety car.
[05:01.440 -> 05:01.800] Yeah.
[05:01.800 -> 05:04.520] I mean, the track was unforgiving.
[05:04.600 -> 05:05.160] I mean, Imola is like that unforgiving. Uh, I mean,
[05:05.160 -> 05:09.400] Imola is like that, you know, because unlike these modern tracks, like what
[05:09.400 -> 05:13.960] you saw in Bahrain, where, you know, you have so many tarmac runoffs where,
[05:14.200 -> 05:17.280] you know, these drivers kind of take advantage of that because they know that
[05:17.280 -> 05:22.720] even if, uh, you know, they carry some more speed, the worst that that can
[05:22.720 -> 05:25.360] happen is they might get a five second penalty or something like that.
[05:25.680 -> 05:33.400] But here it's like, if you overstep your bounds, you are going to, you know, your race is going to be destroyed after that.
[05:34.280 -> 05:34.480] Yeah.
[05:34.480 -> 05:37.600] So as you saw, right, like so many drivers were spinning out.
[05:37.600 -> 05:45.400] I mean, all of these are professionals and still under the conditions, they could not keep it inside.
[05:45.400 -> 05:54.720] I mean, I think Latifi was trying to just hang in there because he sort of spun, went
[05:54.720 -> 06:00.360] off the tracks and then joined back in only to just go a few more yards and just crash
[06:00.360 -> 06:01.360] out.
[06:01.360 -> 06:08.240] But yeah, that brought in the safety car. I thought that could have given people an
[06:08.240 -> 06:15.200] advantage, but it was just the race start. So not much harm done, not much advantage gain.
[06:15.840 -> 06:23.440] But the interesting part was people started losing places or gaining places during that
[06:23.440 -> 06:26.160] safety car because people were still spinning,
[06:26.160 -> 06:31.440] right? I think like Leclerc spun out or someone and they had to overtake a few people to get back
[06:31.440 -> 06:37.760] to their original position and whatnot. Yeah. So actually that part, so I remember that Leclerc
[06:37.760 -> 06:45.480] spun out during the formation lap. Yeah. Leclerc spun now during the formation lap. Uh, and, uh,
[06:45.560 -> 06:49.920] I think he lost two positions, but during the formation lap behind a safety car,
[06:49.920 -> 06:53.520] you're still allowed to regain your position. Sorry. Not just you're allowed to,
[06:53.560 -> 06:57.160] you have to get back the position and we'll get back to this.
[06:59.200 -> 07:00.040] And, uh,
[07:05.860 -> 07:08.580] and I think, uh, Paris spun out.
[07:08.580 -> 07:09.180] No, wait.
[07:09.340 -> 07:09.900] Uh, yeah.
[07:09.940 -> 07:14.340] Paris spun out during the safety car later on, uh, when Latifi crashed
[07:14.700 -> 07:17.060] and he tried to do the same thing.
[07:17.100 -> 07:22.460] But since this was a safety car for an incident at that point, you
[07:22.460 -> 07:26.320] cannot overtake, uh, and and yeah he got penalized for that
[07:27.600 -> 07:34.800] and then as soon as the race race resumes we have Mikshamakar poor guy the the location at
[07:34.800 -> 07:42.880] which he spins out is like just after the pit lanes open up onto the track and that brings in
[07:42.880 -> 07:45.700] another was it it was an actual safety car, right?
[07:45.700 -> 07:47.140] Like not a virtual safety car.
[07:47.240 -> 07:48.900] So the race didn't start.
[07:48.960 -> 07:51.580] It was during the safety car itself.
[07:51.580 -> 07:55.780] He was trying to warm up his tires because they lose temperature.
[07:56.180 -> 08:00.480] And he, while trying to warm up the tires, he spun, he crashed onto the barriers.
[08:00.860 -> 08:04.940] And obviously his front wing was lying there at the pit exit.
[08:04.200 -> 08:04.760] And, uh, obviously his front wing was like the exit.
[08:09.880 -> 08:12.560] And, and the funny thing is that he was in dire need of going to the pits, but the pits were closed because of him itself.
[08:12.640 -> 08:15.560] And then, yeah, he had to just, uh, you know, go around the
[08:15.560 -> 08:17.280] lap with a broken front wing.
[08:18.000 -> 08:22.320] The only advantage he had in that whole situation, I guess, was like, he was
[08:22.320 -> 08:27.320] in US position 19 because Latif is out, but like he was in US position 19.
[08:27.320 -> 08:28.760] So you didn't have to gain anything.
[08:29.200 -> 08:32.880] Uh, but he could, you could hear him telling his race engineer, say what's
[08:32.880 -> 08:34.200] wrong, what's happening in the race.
[08:34.200 -> 08:36.640] Engineers were like, well, the pit lanes close.
[08:37.120 -> 08:39.320] Uh, it's just a small wire hanging.
[08:39.320 -> 08:40.220] No harm done.
[08:40.240 -> 08:40.760] Continue.
[08:40.760 -> 08:43.680] And we'll wait till the pit lane opens up.
[08:44.800 -> 08:47.740] Yeah. That, that was pretty, pretty funny.
[08:48.300 -> 08:50.620] I mean, yeah, it was craziness all over.
[08:50.620 -> 08:55.100] And I think finally the safety car, you know, went back into the pits
[08:55.100 -> 08:57.000] that it was about to resume.
[08:57.160 -> 09:02.260] And, um, yeah, again, worst happened, took off, uh, managed it really well.
[09:02.320 -> 09:11.000] I saw that, you know, he, the funny thing was, if you had noticed right before the restart, he was warming up his tyres right up till the very end.
[09:11.000 -> 09:19.000] So Hamilton could not take a guess of when he is going to take off. And then at the right moment, he took off and again, created a large lead.
[09:19.000 -> 09:28.560] And you know what, he's done this in the last race too. Like if you notice how Hamilton does restarts versus how Verstappen does restarts, Verstappen
[09:28.560 -> 09:35.300] waits till the starting line to, you know, launch off and that probably sets everyone
[09:35.300 -> 09:37.760] back in a domino effect.
[09:37.760 -> 09:42.720] And yeah, that guy is really maturing very well.
[09:42.720 -> 09:47.120] But the other exciting thing that started happening as soon as the race
[09:47.120 -> 09:55.680] restarted was a bunch of overtakes like Giovinazzi's overtake on Yuki's Alpha Tauri. Oh, wow, that was
[09:55.680 -> 10:04.720] just too splendid. And in my mind, we've never spoken or seen Giovinazzi do those amazing moves.
[10:07.360 -> 10:12.800] mind, we've never spoken or seen Joey Natsui do those amazing moves. But even after that, with the condition still being very bad, Lando, we were talking right before we started recording,
[10:12.800 -> 10:19.520] right? So I mean, Lando's overtake on the two or three cars that he did in those conditions, right?
[10:20.800 -> 10:25.520] Lando was, yeah, he was a superstar for me during this whole weekend.
[10:25.520 -> 10:30.760] You know, he's been on form, he has been making no mistakes.
[10:30.760 -> 10:34.040] He he pretty much did everything right.
[10:34.040 -> 10:36.000] And yeah, amazing performance.
[10:36.000 -> 10:43.760] I mean, I think Lando is going to be forced to reckon with the season.
[10:43.760 -> 10:47.600] And I think Ferrari, probably Charles and Lando will be battling
[10:47.600 -> 10:48.940] that out throughout the season.
[10:48.940 -> 10:49.360] Probably.
[10:49.380 -> 10:50.320] That's what it seems like.
[10:50.880 -> 10:55.160] Uh, so yeah, let's see who, who wins at the end.
[10:55.280 -> 10:58.880] Um, and yeah, amazing race by Lando.
[10:59.000 -> 11:00.760] Uh, I've got no words.
[11:00.760 -> 11:05.880] I remember like we were seeing that video and you were like, I can't see a damn
[11:05.880 -> 11:06.080] thing.
[11:06.080 -> 11:09.280] How is this kid overtaking three cars at the same time?
[11:09.840 -> 11:10.680] Yeah, that's right.
[11:10.680 -> 11:13.000] I mean, if you've seen the onboards, right.
[11:13.040 -> 11:14.240] It's insane.
[11:14.240 -> 11:16.760] You can't see anything.
[11:17.400 -> 11:22.840] And, uh, I told her like 200 kilometers per hour and overtaking in those
[11:22.840 -> 11:23.340] conditions.
[11:24.120 -> 11:25.080] Yeah, that's right.
[11:25.160 -> 11:25.480] Yeah.
[11:25.520 -> 11:25.880] It is.
[11:25.880 -> 11:27.000] It was pretty insane.
[11:27.000 -> 11:32.640] Like, yeah, I, this was one of the best races I've seen in a while, but I think
[11:32.640 -> 11:37.040] I've been saying this for a while now, like the last couple of races, but they
[11:37.040 -> 11:37.960] have been entertaining.
[11:38.000 -> 11:39.760] They have been amazingly entertaining.
[11:40.120 -> 11:40.560] That's right.
[11:42.200 -> 11:46.000] But I think Lando was in a different zone altogether this weekend.
[11:46.000 -> 11:49.200] And he had a better pace than Ricardo too, right?
[11:49.200 -> 11:58.800] Yeah, that's right. I mean, one thing if you noticed, right, like, obviously, McLaren came out with the team orders during the race.
[11:58.800 -> 12:05.700] Lando was like flying through the laps. And Ricardo, I think, was was not that fast because I think he's
[12:05.700 -> 12:09.200] still not that comfortable in the car.
[12:09.200 -> 12:13.500] Probably he still is kind of discovering the limits of the car, especially given the conditions
[12:13.500 -> 12:14.500] and everything.
[12:14.500 -> 12:17.640] Lando, I think this is his third year now at McLaren, right?
[12:17.640 -> 12:18.640] Yeah.
[12:18.640 -> 12:19.640] Yeah.
[12:19.640 -> 12:21.080] I mean, that's the thing.
[12:21.080 -> 12:23.620] He's been, it's his third year.
[12:23.620 -> 12:25.520] People still kind of treat him as a rookie.
[12:25.520 -> 12:29.040] I mean, that's what it feels like because he looks so young.
[12:29.040 -> 12:39.000] Yeah. And his behavior and attitude on the wrist and paddock and everything that at least on the screen is very, you know, naive.
[12:39.000 -> 12:47.040] Yep. Yep. That's right. Yeah. And yeah, so McLaren basically came on the radio and told Ricardo
[12:47.040 -> 12:54.920] that, you know, let's give Lando the free air and see if he's faster. Obviously coded
[12:54.920 -> 13:05.760] for let him buy. But it's amazing to see that McLaren has been using team orders in 2020 as well.
[13:11.100 -> 13:14.940] And they have used it many times, but never have I seen any controversy related to that, because if you remember any time Ferrari did this or
[13:15.780 -> 13:16.440] Mercedes.
[13:17.180 -> 13:19.880] Actually, we can't even think about Red Bull because Christian Horner is
[13:19.880 -> 13:21.880] just too accentuated at this point.
[13:22.080 -> 13:22.380] Yep.
[13:23.580 -> 13:28.880] I mean, yeah, there's always a controversy related to these things, but somehow McLaren
[13:28.880 -> 13:34.640] has a very good team culture overall where, you know, it seems like everybody kind of
[13:34.640 -> 13:39.760] understands that this is a team game and you have to play second fiddle sometimes.
[13:39.760 -> 13:40.760] So yeah, true.
[13:40.760 -> 13:41.760] Definitely.
[13:41.760 -> 13:52.000] And I think like Zach Brown's running the ship very well. I wonder what Alonzo's thinking sitting in that new Renault, that my GP2 engine's grown very well.
[13:52.000 -> 14:06.240] Yeah, I'm sure he must be regretting it, like leaving McLaren. But as the race progressed, the weather started getting better.
[14:06.560 -> 14:11.640] It was, it was time to see, you know, those, those change in tires, but no
[14:11.640 -> 14:16.000] one was coming in like a battle of Ooblings first, Mexicans.
[14:17.280 -> 14:17.560] Yeah.
[14:17.560 -> 14:21.720] I mean, that's the thing, especially, you know, in conditions like these,
[14:21.720 -> 14:27.440] where the track is drying, but not drying fast enough, because even if the rain stopped as well, it wasn't
[14:27.440 -> 14:31.040] really sunny, there was still a lot of cloud cover, the temperatures
[14:31.040 -> 14:32.080] were not that high.
[14:32.560 -> 14:34.920] So the track wasn't drying up that fast.
[14:35.360 -> 14:39.560] And the thing is that, you know, if you switch to slicks from
[14:39.560 -> 14:46.240] inters or wets, uh, and if you don't follow the dry line, which you mentioned,
[14:46.440 -> 14:51.400] uh, earlier, even if like half a tire goes under the wet, you
[14:51.400 -> 14:52.520] would be screwed with that.
[14:52.520 -> 14:57.360] So I think that everybody was kind of waiting to see when is the right
[14:57.360 -> 15:02.160] time, because if you change your tires, one, even one lap earlier, you might,
[15:02.160 -> 15:03.960] you know, just end up in the barriers.
[15:04.240 -> 15:05.320] So, yeah.
[15:06.400 -> 15:11.680] Plus I think there was also that battle of who undercuts who exactly, I mean,
[15:11.680 -> 15:16.920] usually Hamilton's trying to do this with Botas, but this time, uh, it was
[15:16.920 -> 15:21.320] lovely to see, and I think it's very politely lovely to see Botas in position
[15:21.320 -> 15:21.880] nine.
[15:22.360 -> 15:23.240] I don't know, dude.
[15:23.240 -> 15:24.720] What's up with that guy?
[15:26.560 -> 15:28.000] Botas 4 position 9. I don't know dude what's up with that guy. Botas 4.0.
[15:31.520 -> 15:34.400] Yeah that guy I don't understand man.
[15:36.480 -> 15:40.000] I thought he was trying to reprove himself. I mean I know he's trying to do that since
[15:40.000 -> 15:40.880] three years now.
[15:43.600 -> 15:46.560] Yeah that guy had no pace yesterday.
[15:46.560 -> 15:48.360] It didn't make sense.
[15:48.360 -> 15:54.400] He, it seemed as if there was just one Mercedes on the track yesterday.
[15:54.720 -> 15:55.880] Felt good to see that.
[15:58.800 -> 16:00.080] Yeah, it was weird.
[16:00.560 -> 16:02.120] Talking about strategies.
[16:02.240 -> 16:07.600] Did you notice that Gasly was on a terrible strategy yesterday?
[16:07.600 -> 16:10.760] I think Alphatari was trying to do something different.
[16:10.760 -> 16:16.240] They split the strategies with Yuki and Gasly and obviously Gasly got the worst of it because
[16:16.240 -> 16:20.840] he was on full wets when the track wasn't that bad.
[16:20.840 -> 16:27.020] I mean, full wets are useful for restarts in those conditions because you get a much better start.
[16:27.440 -> 16:33.080] But as soon as, you know, once the dry line starts forming on the track, full
[16:33.080 -> 16:36.520] wets are just utterly useless because they degrade like crazy.
[16:36.520 -> 16:37.880] They heat up like crazy.
[16:38.480 -> 16:39.320] And yeah.
[16:39.320 -> 16:41.320] And you could see, he was just dropping down the field.
[16:41.320 -> 16:43.480] I think he started fifth.
[16:43.480 -> 16:45.720] I think he was quite, down the field. I think he started 5th, I think. He was quite up. Yeah, he was quite up.
[16:45.720 -> 16:50.800] Yeah. And I think after the safety car or something, he was just dropping down.
[16:50.800 -> 16:57.880] And I think he had reached like 15th or 16th. And at that point, they pitted him for inters.
[16:57.880 -> 17:02.920] But by then, most of his race was ruined anyways.
[17:02.920 -> 17:05.600] Yeah, I think it was an overall bad day for
[17:05.600 -> 17:11.520] Alpha Tauri because Yuki wasn't having his usual day. I mean, that guy spun quite a lot yesterday.
[17:13.520 -> 17:19.200] Quite unlike Yuki because we've not seen him do that even in F2, right? Like we've discussed this,
[17:19.200 -> 17:29.800] but like we've not seen him do that. Alpha Tauri, not a good day. And yeah, I mean, those, those wet tires, you could, you could hear Hamilton complain, you could hear Max complain. But eventually
[17:29.800 -> 17:35.780] the grips were starting to come back and then, yeah, I think what Red Bull blinked first
[17:35.780 -> 17:46.220] did the, did the undercut on Hamilton. Initially it looked like it may not work, but that 2.2 second Red Bull again, being
[17:46.240 -> 17:52.720] classic with their fantastic Pitstop, but Hamilton coming in two laps after that
[17:52.720 -> 17:56.360] with a four second Pitstop and I was so much in joy.
[17:57.600 -> 17:58.440] Yeah, that's right.
[17:58.480 -> 18:02.920] I, I, I was happy that, you know, Red Bull didn't mess up anything.
[18:03.480 -> 18:06.800] But I think Pitstop is one of the strengths overall.
[18:06.900 -> 18:12.860] Uh, I, every single race you see that, you know, they have these sub two
[18:12.860 -> 18:16.160] second pit stops, which is, which feels like, you know, unreal.
[18:16.160 -> 18:20.840] Like, how do you, how do you change four tires with less than two seconds?
[18:21.080 -> 18:23.020] And it's, it's not just only Red Bull, right?
[18:23.020 -> 18:26.320] Even the BDM Alpha Tauri is amazing at this too.
[18:26.880 -> 18:28.840] Yep. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
[18:28.840 -> 18:33.680] I, at this point on sleeping, I consider both teams as the same.
[18:33.720 -> 18:36.080] I mean, pretty much is.
[18:36.600 -> 18:41.440] So yeah, I think it just trickles down to the other team as well.
[18:42.120 -> 18:49.480] Once, once the race was now back on track and everything, I heard a steward or radio saying
[18:49.480 -> 18:55.000] Vettel's got a 10 second stop and go and Perez has got a 10 second penalty.
[18:55.000 -> 18:58.680] I never found out what was that about. Do you know what happened there?
[18:58.680 -> 19:01.840] Oh man.
[19:01.840 -> 19:12.560] Poor guy Vettel because he's just not having a good season so far, but that guy has had a terrible weekend yet again.
[19:13.040 -> 19:18.400] He, he obviously couldn't get into Q3 during qualifications and that wasn't pure pace.
[19:20.000 -> 19:25.400] And even during the race, I think he had some issues with, uh, with some
[19:25.400 -> 19:29.440] gearbox and I think they were fixing something, uh, before the race.
[19:29.440 -> 19:31.560] So that's why he had a pretty, pretty in start.
[19:31.800 -> 19:35.720] Oh, that's why they said like the tires weren't on before the tire
[19:35.840 -> 19:37.760] put on mark or something interesting.
[19:37.760 -> 19:38.320] Yeah.
[19:38.320 -> 19:42.800] So there's this rule that you have to have the tires on before
[19:42.840 -> 19:44.840] like five minutes from the restart.
[19:45.040 -> 19:48.720] But basically since they were still working on the car right up to the very
[19:48.720 -> 19:51.520] end, they didn't have tires on, on the car.
[19:52.240 -> 19:57.520] And, uh, yeah, he started from the pit lane, but the weird thing is that.
[19:58.320 -> 20:00.640] This happened before the race.
[20:01.040 -> 20:03.960] They had this data right before the race.
[20:03.960 -> 20:08.520] They could have given the penalty right then and there, but for some very weird
[20:08.520 -> 20:15.280] reason, they waited till like 20 laps and then slapped him with the stop and go
[20:15.280 -> 20:15.720] penalty.
[20:15.720 -> 20:19.400] And that dude right after he pitted, like it was, it was so weird.
[20:19.440 -> 20:21.040] I mean, it makes no sense.
[20:21.080 -> 20:23.640] I don't understand what is FIA doing?
[20:23.640 -> 20:23.840] Like
[20:23.880 -> 20:28.160] FIA is probably on its own adrenaline rush this season.
[20:28.160 -> 20:28.520] It feels like.
[20:31.800 -> 20:37.120] Yeah, I mean, they, they were handling our penalties this time, left and right.
[20:37.220 -> 20:41.640] It felt as if, you know, it was a, uh, like overcompensation from last time,
[20:41.640 -> 20:45.120] because like people were complaining about the Lewis
[20:45.120 -> 20:49.480] Hamilton, like going outside the bounds of the racetrack and everything.
[20:49.480 -> 20:52.040] And everybody was criticizing their fire for being too lenient.
[20:52.360 -> 20:55.000] So they decided, okay, we'll show how to be strict.
[20:56.200 -> 21:00.440] You know, you get a penalty, you get a penalty, you get a penalty,
[21:00.880 -> 21:02.840] but only with others, not with Hamilton.
[21:02.840 -> 21:05.160] Cause that's also something we want to cover later
[21:05.160 -> 21:06.160] on.
[21:06.160 -> 21:09.800] Penalty to Vettel and then another penalty to Perez as well, right?
[21:09.800 -> 21:16.080] Yeah, I think we already mentioned this earlier, but yeah, as like, since Perez spun out and
[21:16.080 -> 21:23.120] he overtook during the safety car, yeah, he was given a penalty.
[21:23.120 -> 21:25.160] Even though he was trying to regain his position.
[21:25.160 -> 21:25.440] Right.
[21:25.440 -> 21:27.800] So, yeah.
[21:28.060 -> 21:31.720] And that's, that's the point of weirdness.
[21:31.720 -> 21:39.080] If you had seen later in the race as well, when I think this was after, after the
[21:39.080 -> 21:47.100] red flag that happened and Kimmy was also given a penalty on the rolling start spin, right?
[21:47.320 -> 21:49.320] Yep, exactly on the
[21:50.200 -> 21:55.720] Rolling start when Kimmy spun out and he tried he joined the track back
[21:55.720 -> 21:59.280] He asked his engineer whether you know, he should take back his position
[21:59.320 -> 22:04.080] The engineer told him probably not because Paris was given a penalty. So he stayed behind
[22:04.520 -> 22:05.640] so first of all,
[22:05.640 -> 22:07.720] he lost two positions because of the spin.
[22:08.760 -> 22:13.600] And he was given a penalty for not regaining position.
[22:13.600 -> 22:18.520] So FIA basically gave a penalty for overtaking under
[22:18.520 -> 22:22.760] a safety car, as well as for not overtaking under a safety car,
[22:23.040 -> 22:26.320] get your shit together, man. Like what, what the hell is going on?
[22:27.960 -> 22:31.680] Yeah, I guess, I guess these guys weren't the only ones having a bad day.
[22:31.680 -> 22:36.600] Cause I feel like Ricardo was also having a doozy of a day, right?
[22:36.600 -> 22:40.240] Carlos had such an easy overtake on him.
[22:40.840 -> 22:45.760] He was having penalties by himself, not FIA enforced.
[22:45.760 -> 22:47.760] He was penalizing himself.
[22:47.760 -> 22:55.640] Yeah. And to add oil to fire, his pit stop was a 6.6 second pit stop.
[22:55.640 -> 22:57.640] It's like poor guy.
[22:57.640 -> 23:00.200] But still Carlos did end up pretty good at the end.
[23:00.200 -> 23:03.200] So that also kind of speaks for the pace of the Ferrari, right?
[23:03.200 -> 23:06.840] Like even after making so many mistakes, right.
[23:06.960 -> 23:08.600] It was quite surprising to see that.
[23:09.400 -> 23:12.720] Cause the preseason testing, I mean, we've said this so many times with the preseason
[23:12.720 -> 23:17.700] testing, then show Ferrari in good light and both the races Ferrari's just been
[23:17.760 -> 23:19.920] up there to everyone's surprise.
[23:20.240 -> 23:26.200] But then I was just too happy, just too happy because Hamilton made a mistake.
[23:26.200 -> 23:28.200] Everyone cracks under pressure.
[23:28.200 -> 23:33.800] This guy's never been in pressure and this season he's getting the real deal from Max Verstappen.
[23:33.800 -> 23:37.200] And I was just so happy to see him crashing.
[23:37.200 -> 23:42.600] He's a great diver, don't get me wrong, but I'm just too bored of seeing him in the front and he crashed.
[23:42.600 -> 23:44.600] And I was like, yes!
[23:44.600 -> 23:45.680] But I don't think your happiness lasted for long. too bored of seeing him in the front and he crashed and I was like, yes.
[23:47.760 -> 23:47.840] But I don't think your happiness lasted for long.
[23:48.360 -> 23:51.400] Oh man. I was angry immediately after that.
[23:51.400 -> 23:52.040] I was angry.
[23:53.760 -> 23:54.800] Did you notice one thing?
[23:54.800 -> 23:55.160] Okay.
[23:55.160 -> 24:00.600] It seems like this was some, uh, really twisted game by George Russell, because
[24:00.600 -> 24:05.200] he basically took out both the Mercedes drivers because Lewis spun out while
[24:05.200 -> 24:13.040] overtaking like while lapping George Russell. And as soon as Lewis got off track, he crashed.
[24:13.040 -> 24:19.200] And right after that, I remember seeing he was like reversing back onto the track. Oh,
[24:19.200 -> 24:29.240] by the way, yes, that's the right place to talk about this. So FIA, these clowns, they give out penalties for, you know, all these random things.
[24:29.240 -> 24:37.880] And then somebody, when I say somebody, their favorite driver basically reverses onto a live racing track.
[24:37.880 -> 24:40.120] And that's perfectly fine.
[24:40.120 -> 24:46.160] Yeah. I mean, I agree no one was coming from behind, but it's still it's still super unsafe.
[24:46.160 -> 25:05.680] Yeah, I mean, imagine dude, like if if I back up, like reverse into a freeway, the cop is not gonna be like, you on one hand, FIA like stresses so much on safety.
[25:05.960 -> 25:07.560] And then it wasn't like that.
[25:07.560 -> 25:08.800] He didn't have any option.
[25:08.800 -> 25:10.880] OK, like there was a lot of space there.
[25:11.080 -> 25:15.640] He could have easily reversed, like as you would do in your car,
[25:15.640 -> 25:18.760] reverse back and then go straight into the track
[25:18.960 -> 25:21.400] where you can actually see if the cars are coming or not.
[25:21.680 -> 25:24.440] But he reversed onto the track and then started going.
[25:24.440 -> 25:28.500] And and to be honest, when I was watching the race, I saw that and I was
[25:28.500 -> 25:29.840] like, you know, what the hell is he doing?
[25:30.160 -> 25:34.000] And right after that, they cut to a crash with, uh, yeah.
[25:34.000 -> 25:35.120] That's and Russell.
[25:35.120 -> 25:35.720] Does that happen?
[25:35.720 -> 25:36.080] Right.
[25:36.600 -> 25:36.920] Yeah.
[25:36.920 -> 25:40.600] And for a moment I thought, yeah, obviously this is, I had expected this to
[25:40.600 -> 25:44.360] happen because I thought that George actually crashed into Hamilton, but,
[25:44.400 -> 25:47.500] uh, yeah, that's not what happened.
[25:47.500 -> 25:54.460] And I want to also point out like for listeners, if you think what happened was fair, go back
[25:54.460 -> 26:02.360] and see a Wettel's rejoining in, in the Canadian Grand Prix and how Hamilton literally cried
[26:02.360 -> 26:06.400] about it, that cribbing guy and FIA gave Vettel a penalty.
[26:06.400 -> 26:07.480] So check that out.
[26:07.920 -> 26:12.180] But yeah, that, that immediate accident after that, I, even I assumed that Russell
[26:12.180 -> 26:16.600] crashed into Hamilton because that is, that was so unsafe to back up on the track.
[26:16.640 -> 26:21.440] And he had, and he had that runoff post gravel track, so he could have come
[26:21.440 -> 26:22.640] through there too, but he didn't.
[26:23.280 -> 26:24.200] Yep, exactly.
[26:24.640 -> 26:29.040] Uh, but yeah, as you know, as you have already seen that Hamilton is lucky when,
[26:29.040 -> 26:35.920] even when he's unlucky, I mean, he had pretty much threw over the race. He was one lap down.
[26:36.960 -> 26:47.120] His front wing was damaged. If not for the red flag, I don't think he could have by any means have reached the podium at all.
[26:47.120 -> 26:48.000] Definitely not.
[26:48.960 -> 26:53.000] I mean, he would have got the race was regular unless there was another safety car.
[26:53.000 -> 26:54.320] It would have gone the way it is.
[26:54.680 -> 26:57.480] Hamilton would have had to go and get into the pit lane.
[26:57.480 -> 27:07.600] He was ninth already and getting the front wing changed, you know, would have cost him maybe another four or five positions to max.
[27:07.600 -> 27:12.480] Yeah, there was no way he was going to be, I mean, serendipity at its best for him.
[27:12.480 -> 27:20.240] Yeah, that's, and that always happens, you know, you remember last season, there was, I don't, I don't recall which race this was.
[27:20.240 -> 27:27.920] I remember that he had some damage or something, or no, he, he pitted for tires and he was on a very terrible strategy that day.
[27:27.920 -> 27:33.520] I do remember that he had stayed longer than others and like he was losing a lot
[27:33.520 -> 27:35.760] of time and then he went onto the pits.
[27:36.340 -> 27:39.840] A virtual safety car started just as he entered the pits.
[27:39.840 -> 27:44.080] So obviously the entire field slowed down and the virtual safety guard
[27:44.300 -> 27:45.920] ended as soon as he got out of the pit.
[27:45.920 -> 27:48.240] So he got a free pit stop out of nowhere.
[27:49.120 -> 27:54.040] And in that sense, he is definitely at times very lucky.
[27:54.080 -> 28:00.480] And I mean, he just adds his driving skills to the luck to just convert these things and gain as much as he can.
[28:10.480 -> 28:14.880] he can. But that accident between Russell and Botas, I personally find Botas at fault, although I equally find Russell at fault too, because he was just trying to be overaggressive
[28:14.880 -> 28:26.880] and he could have avoided that accident. But what struck me, I mean, after fact, and when they kept showing those replays, when they showed
[28:26.880 -> 28:34.880] Kimi's on board, you could see Botas coming way off to the right. And at that point, Russell had
[28:34.880 -> 28:45.400] already committed on that overtake. He was on the wet side of the track. his tire goes slightly off track onto that dewy grass.
[28:45.400 -> 28:47.780] And yeah, there was only one result out of that.
[28:48.340 -> 28:52.920] Uh, I, I, I say Russell could have saved this because if he was slightly
[28:52.920 -> 28:55.240] patient, maybe he could have gotten Botas in the next lap.
[28:56.300 -> 28:57.120] Yeah, I think.
[28:57.740 -> 29:02.640] I feel the fault lies, uh, 50, 50, I would say kind of probably, probably
[29:02.640 -> 29:05.000] maybe 51, 49 with 51 being
[29:05.000 -> 29:11.440] George Russell. Uh, but, but it's like, you know, I feel George Russell
[29:11.440 -> 29:13.000] had a very good opportunity.
[29:13.040 -> 29:17.240] This race, uh, he was battling a Mercedes and a Williams. Uh, he
[29:17.240 -> 29:21.300] should have known better if he really wants that seat at Mercedes.
[29:21.300 -> 29:25.200] He, this was the point where he could show his temperament and he could have, you
[29:25.200 -> 29:31.760] know, uh, waited a little more because if, if he could see that he had a better pace than Potas,
[29:31.760 -> 29:37.040] uh, he could have just waited a couple of laps. And, you know, he could have done it a few laps
[29:37.040 -> 29:42.080] down the road. And, and the thing about it is, you know, he would have won, like it was a win-win
[29:42.080 -> 29:48.160] situation for him because even if he could not overtake him, he was still battling a Mercedes and a Williams.
[29:48.160 -> 29:52.840] So, regardless of whether he got points or not, people would notice that.
[29:52.840 -> 30:01.200] No, he was. He was, I think, P10. At that point, the biggest achievement for Williams in years was going to be, Williams was going to get a point.
[30:01.200 -> 30:06.680] Exactly. Yeah. And I think he threw away the opportunity by being too aggressive.
[30:06.680 -> 30:12.480] He should have known better that the track is unforgiving and it is a wet race.
[30:12.480 -> 30:14.560] He should have backed out there.
[30:14.560 -> 30:19.040] And yeah, obviously, I also blame Bottas from his perspective as well.
[30:19.040 -> 30:20.920] He knew how bad the track is.
[30:20.920 -> 30:24.520] Being a more experienced driver, he pushed a bit more.
[30:24.520 -> 30:25.440] Exactly. He should have left a more experienced driver. He pushed a bit more. Exactly. He should have
[30:25.440 -> 30:30.560] left a little more space, uh, being in a Mercedes, he should have known even if, you know, Williams
[30:30.560 -> 30:36.720] passes him by right now, he can regain the position easily later on. So yeah. Though,
[30:36.720 -> 30:43.600] however, what Russell did right after, uh, getting out of the car, I'm not too happy about that. I,
[30:43.600 -> 30:47.200] I always thought that Russell is a more level-headed guy,
[30:47.200 -> 30:52.800] but he basically, if you saw right, he got out of the car and walked up to Botas.
[30:52.800 -> 30:56.120] He told him basically, are you trying to kill us both?
[30:56.120 -> 30:58.120] And he also slapped his helmet.
[30:58.120 -> 31:02.400] What initially felt like he's gone there to check on if he's fine,
[31:02.400 -> 31:06.240] later turned out like a condescending remark.
[31:08.080 -> 31:12.880] Exactly. And yeah, that's, that's so weird. And, and the thing about it is, okay, I can
[31:12.880 -> 31:17.120] understand, you know, in the heat of the moment with the adrenaline rush that they have,
[31:18.000 -> 31:25.200] it can happen that, you know, you're all worked up and you have, you know, just go and go with the flow.
[31:28.400 -> 31:28.840] But even in the post-race interviews, if you noticed, he,
[31:32.920 -> 31:32.960] he was doubling down on it and seeing that, you know, uh,
[31:37.880 -> 31:37.960] BOTAS was completely wrong here. And he also mentioned something like, uh,
[31:40.960 -> 31:43.280] if that, if it was some other driver, other than me, BOTAS probably wouldn't had pushed so far,
[31:44.280 -> 31:49.100] which completely reminded me of the, they race me so hard comment by Albon.
[31:49.100 -> 31:58.100] It felt like some high school drama, you know.
[31:58.100 -> 32:05.200] He's definitely eyeing that and Botas is it's the seat that he wants to fill.
[32:05.200 -> 32:12.880] Well, let's let's pause for 30 seconds here to get some messages out and then hop back in.
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[32:47.400 -> 32:51.360] rate the drivers after our race,
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[33:34.320 -> 33:35.840] Now let's get back to the episode.
[33:42.240 -> 33:49.240] So right after the crash, obviously a red flag came in, the race was stopped and you
[33:49.240 -> 33:56.840] know everybody had to return back to their pits and the funny thing is right like there
[33:56.840 -> 34:03.320] have been so many red flags recently I don't even recall like apart from the apart from
[34:03.320 -> 34:05.880] last year like when did we have Sessions
[34:05.880 -> 34:10.240] red flag this often it's it's pretty new these days and yeah that basically
[34:10.240 -> 34:14.160] played right in the hands of Hamilton because you know because of the red flag
[34:14.160 -> 34:19.720] he got a reset right like not just repairing his car I mean they could fix
[34:19.720 -> 34:23.640] everything but he was also got a you know he got a reset mentally. And he said that he
[34:23.640 -> 34:26.040] said that in the post-race interview where he was like,
[34:26.800 -> 34:31.800] I made a mistake after a very long time and that sort of put me off as well.
[34:33.440 -> 34:37.340] But during the red flag, I sort of told myself that, you know,
[34:37.340 -> 34:39.160] there's not much time to think about this.
[34:39.160 -> 34:42.520] Let's just bounce back and heads down. Let's just race.
[34:43.280 -> 34:46.280] Yeah, that's right. And I was actually a little worried, you know,
[34:46.280 -> 34:49.080] because like right after that happened,
[34:49.080 -> 34:52.400] I was worried that he might, you know, get a podium.
[34:52.400 -> 34:54.520] I mean, sorry, like actually win the race.
[34:54.520 -> 34:56.840] Oh, I didn't want him to have a podium too, man.
[34:56.840 -> 35:01.840] But that red flag ensured that that thought of mine was,
[35:01.840 -> 35:04.360] that dreams of mine were just crushed
[35:04.360 -> 35:06.400] as soon as the red flag was announced.
[35:06.400 -> 35:12.800] And it was a rolling start after the red flag, right? Like we didn't have a proper standing start.
[35:12.800 -> 35:21.000] But right afterwards, did you see that Max spun out? And oh, man, I was so worried at that point.
[35:21.000 -> 35:25.040] I was like, Max, come on on get it together you have to you
[35:25.040 -> 35:30.080] know win this race I was gonna switch off the TV I was like red flag and Max
[35:30.080 -> 35:37.520] spins this is just pre-planned yeah thankfully you know people waited for him like
[35:37.520 -> 35:44.520] Charles and yeah Charles was just behind him they let him get back so yeah and
[35:44.520 -> 35:46.840] actually they have to let him get back, right?
[35:46.840 -> 35:51.840] So thankfully he was able to get back, recover the top.
[35:52.520 -> 35:53.440] But do we know that?
[35:53.440 -> 35:55.920] Because FIA is giving penalties on both sides.
[35:55.920 -> 35:56.760] So.
[35:56.760 -> 35:59.640] Oh man, who knows what they're doing?
[35:59.640 -> 36:02.160] Yeah, you know, actually what, I have a theory.
[36:02.160 -> 36:03.800] You know, probably what they're doing is
[36:03.800 -> 36:07.240] this is roller dice and like whatever number
[36:07.260 -> 36:11.720] comes by, they decide, but like it's six. So what's the six?
[36:11.720 -> 36:14.360] Stop and go penalty. All right. It is stop and go penalty.
[36:15.420 -> 36:18.360] And then there is a column with Hamilton saying nothing, nothing, nothing.
[36:21.680 -> 36:28.700] But that restart was, was fun, right? Cause the, the immediate thing that started happening for laps and laps after
[36:28.700 -> 36:31.540] that restart was a battle of fastest lap.
[36:31.580 -> 36:32.920] Cause it was max.
[36:33.020 -> 36:37.820] And as soon as Hamilton crossed Hamilton, it was just those two
[36:37.860 -> 36:40.300] trying to push as much as they can.
[36:40.900 -> 36:47.680] Well, Hamilton had no troubles, obviously clearing the field for a first few.
[36:47.680 -> 36:50.760] I think the race again got so interesting for me
[36:50.760 -> 36:55.280] as soon as Hamilton reached Lando.
[36:55.280 -> 36:58.720] Oh my God, that was just so entertaining after that.
[36:58.720 -> 37:00.840] And he was pretty much like, you know,
[37:00.840 -> 37:02.040] hot knife through Potter.
[37:02.040 -> 37:06.640] He didn't have any issues overtaking anyone at all did you
[37:06.640 -> 37:16.560] see the overtake over Ricardo right he just he just flew past yeah on that fastest straight and
[37:16.560 -> 37:25.840] no troubles at all like waving maybe yeah but credit to Hamilton, right?
[37:25.840 -> 37:34.720] Even though things played into his hand, it's like his skill that he, you know, recovers,
[37:34.720 -> 37:41.720] gets into that zone again, and you know, is just cuts through the field and gets himself
[37:41.720 -> 37:44.280] to the P2 position that he was at.
[37:44.280 -> 37:45.000] Yeah.
[37:45.000 -> 37:48.000] Though he was having a great time, not everybody else was.
[37:48.000 -> 37:52.000] Yuki, you saw right, I think he also got a penalty right?
[37:52.000 -> 37:55.000] And he was not having a good time at all.
[37:55.000 -> 37:59.000] Yeah, he exceeded track limit a couple of times.
[37:59.000 -> 38:01.000] I mean, yeah, he was spinning.
[38:01.000 -> 38:04.000] He wasn't having the usual day that as we've said, right?
[38:04.000 -> 38:06.000] Like he spun a couple of times.
[38:06.000 -> 38:10.800] He was just trying to push that car so much that first he got a warning, then he got a black and
[38:10.800 -> 38:17.360] white flag. And then obviously he did it. He overdid it. So he had the usual five second
[38:17.360 -> 38:25.800] penalty coming. What was interesting was while all of this battle was happening, I mean I wouldn't even
[38:25.800 -> 38:29.760] call it battle until Hamilton vs Lando.
[38:29.760 -> 38:37.520] But while all of that was happening, there was an amazing battle happening in the middle
[38:37.520 -> 38:42.880] or towards the end of the track between Kimi, Ocon, Alonso and Perez.
[38:42.880 -> 38:45.280] All four of those were within one second.
[38:45.280 -> 38:50.280] But hey, Cash is king. Everyone wanted to see Hamilton come up the numbers.
[38:50.640 -> 38:54.960] So they never showed that, but that group was within one second.
[38:54.960 -> 38:59.480] And there was such good contention happening down, down there battle for 12th or 13th.
[38:59.480 -> 38:59.840] Was it?
[39:00.640 -> 39:01.160] Um,
[39:01.720 -> 39:07.640] I don't even recall anything about this because I don't think they even showed this right.
[39:07.640 -> 39:19.520] I think a lot of battles are actually lost in all this right like I remember Krofty was also describing some battle between Lando and Charles but we didn't really ever get to see any of it on screen.
[39:19.520 -> 39:26.320] Yeah after race restart I mean I guess like 95% the time, they just showed Hamilton coming up the numbers.
[39:26.320 -> 39:33.760] There was an amazing battle for 12th between science and whoever there was at 12th.
[39:33.760 -> 39:37.520] But yeah, they never showed any of those battles.
[39:37.520 -> 39:46.400] And that's as probably one of those people who's been seeing this race for a long time now or the sport for a long time now.
[39:46.400 -> 39:48.400] I would love to see those battles as well.
[39:48.400 -> 39:54.200] But sure, I mean, I guess they are playing into what's getting them the big bucks.
[39:54.200 -> 39:58.200] Yeah, and it kind of does make sense as well, like from their perspective, right?
[39:58.200 -> 40:02.000] Like they have to show the battles at the front.
[40:02.000 -> 40:05.600] Like say, suppose if, you know know there was a really good battle happening
[40:10.880 -> 40:17.280] with Hamilton you know cutting through the field and if they didn't show that people would be super pissed off and pretty much you know scathing at them so yeah yeah unfortunately because of that
[40:17.280 -> 40:23.920] we are kind of deprived of some other midfield races what they can possibly do is have something
[40:23.920 -> 40:30.160] like you know picture in picture mode where they kind of show some of these other midfield races, what they can possibly do is have something like, you know, picture in picture mode where they kind of show some of these other midfield races as they're showing
[40:30.160 -> 40:32.600] the races in the front.
[40:32.600 -> 40:38.320] I think they do that in a very tiny manner, which is like embedded into the thing.
[40:38.320 -> 40:41.960] But yeah, I think a picture in picture would be a better way to sort of either have like
[40:41.960 -> 40:47.160] a split screen or at least something bigger that's visually visible on what's going on you're right
[40:47.160 -> 40:50.640] yeah I mean there's definitely scope for improvement and I think they are
[40:50.640 -> 40:54.280] actually trying a couple of things if you have noticed like there's this
[40:54.280 -> 41:07.000] pitlane channel on f1 TV are we going there Sarang we are talking about F1 TV. Oh yeah I mean F1 TV it when it works it
[41:07.000 -> 41:14.400] works great but yeah otherwise it's just a hot mess yeah yeah either ways like so
[41:14.400 -> 41:18.240] they have this pitlane channel where they even have different commentators
[41:18.240 -> 41:22.760] because like the way F1 TV works they license the main feed from Sky Network
[41:22.760 -> 41:25.840] where Martin Randall and David Croft are commenting but
[41:26.640 -> 41:32.240] for this Pitlane channel they have different commentators as well and like what they do is
[41:32.240 -> 41:36.240] they show like the main feed on one box and they have two other boxes where they show you know
[41:36.240 -> 41:42.320] battles from not just battles like perspectives from two other drivers so that they can simultaneously
[41:42.320 -> 41:45.160] show different battles that are going on, not just
[41:45.160 -> 41:49.960] at the front, what is shown in the live feed, but also like other battles throughout the
[41:49.960 -> 41:50.960] midfield.
[41:50.960 -> 41:54.960] And I think that's a good way of testing things out for them before putting it in the main
[41:54.960 -> 41:55.960] team.
[41:55.960 -> 41:58.800] That's a nice, nice experiment and a nice platform.
[41:58.800 -> 41:59.880] I think so.
[41:59.880 -> 42:11.200] So Hamilton was passed Leclerc in an easy, relatively easier fashion. It still wasn't that easy, but I think that fastest rate is quite helpful for a car like
[42:11.200 -> 42:18.880] a Mercedes and be DRS and overtake mode available on that.
[42:18.880 -> 42:21.040] I mean, it's a rocket at that point.
[42:21.040 -> 42:22.040] Yep.
[42:22.040 -> 42:23.040] Yep.
[42:23.040 -> 42:26.800] It took him a few laps, but nonetheless nonetheless he got the job done and then there
[42:26.800 -> 42:32.720] was that epic battle with Lando right? Yeah, Lando was definitely the driver of the day for me as well.
[42:32.720 -> 42:38.960] I mean he extracted absolutely everything from that card. His performance was flawless throughout
[42:38.960 -> 42:48.440] the weekend. Like even considering what's happened, he made many mistakes, right? Like, he didn't have the best of the qualification and FP1, FP2.
[42:48.960 -> 42:53.160] Even in qualification, he came in third, but somehow, you know, he was able to
[42:53.640 -> 42:58.000] get his shit together in the race and gain a good lead.
[42:58.400 -> 43:01.880] But yeah, you could, but you could see like Lando
[43:02.560 -> 43:06.400] probably made no mistakes throughout this weekend.
[43:06.400 -> 43:10.120] And if you consider the whole weekend, he was definitely the driver of the day for me.
[43:10.120 -> 43:11.120] Yeah, yeah.
[43:11.120 -> 43:12.840] I mean, and even on that overtake, right?
[43:12.840 -> 43:19.040] He I think his message to his radio was his radio team was, I just can't match his pace.
[43:19.040 -> 43:20.880] Yeah, I didn't I didn't see that.
[43:20.880 -> 43:23.200] He mentioned that he's just too fast.
[43:23.200 -> 43:29.760] But having seen that pace difference, he still managed to fend the guy off for 2-3 extra laps.
[43:29.760 -> 43:30.560] Uh-huh.
[43:30.560 -> 43:35.040] Oh, wow. Yeah, that lander is just maturing so well.
[43:35.040 -> 43:41.280] Yeah, and even from the perspective of strategy, he was on softs, if you remember, like after the restart.
[43:41.280 -> 43:43.040] Everybody else was on mediums.
[43:43.040 -> 43:49.100] And I was a little worried whether he would be able to maintain the tyres with the softs but he did a brilliant job
[43:49.100 -> 43:57.820] maintaining the tyres and yeah, he got the P3, like he held his position.
[43:57.820 -> 44:02.160] I think the weather might have helped him a tad bit there too because it was anyways
[44:02.160 -> 44:06.000] quite cold in Emola over the weekend and then some
[44:06.000 -> 44:12.040] wetness on the track but yeah he's done an amazing job this weekend so yeah so good to
[44:12.040 -> 44:13.040] see him there.
[44:13.040 -> 44:17.680] Talking about good performances what about Vettel?
[44:17.680 -> 44:26.400] Oh man oh man last lap last they bring him in the last lap with Gearbox's shoes.
[44:26.400 -> 44:32.000] We said this at the start of the episode, they knew he had Gearbox's shoes.
[44:32.000 -> 44:35.200] He had to start from the pits.
[44:35.200 -> 44:40.800] There was gonna be one point where I think there was gonna be like an Alonso vs. Vettel battle.
[44:40.800 -> 44:42.400] But that didn't happen.
[44:42.400 -> 44:44.400] Yeah.
[44:44.400 -> 44:47.400] I think Aston Martin overall was having a lot of issues.
[44:47.400 -> 44:53.200] I think they had some issues with gear syncs as well like Lance Stroll also kind of faced
[44:53.200 -> 44:55.200] similar issues.
[44:55.200 -> 44:58.160] Yeah Lance actually put in a very great performance.
[44:58.160 -> 45:04.760] I think he's one of the underrated drivers currently and he like on pace they were nowhere
[45:04.760 -> 45:07.160] but he was able to like really maintain his
[45:07.160 -> 45:08.160] pace throughout the race.
[45:08.160 -> 45:12.120] I think there was some battle between him and Alonso if I'm not wrong.
[45:12.120 -> 45:17.080] Might have to fact check that but yeah Lance Joel.
[45:17.080 -> 45:24.760] I think all in all Aston Martin still trying to figure out their car not just Vettel in
[45:24.760 -> 45:25.040] that I mean not just Wettel in that,
[45:25.040 -> 45:28.860] I mean, not just all new drivers in their new teams.
[45:28.860 -> 45:32.220] Aston Martin is still trying to understand what's happening.
[45:33.120 -> 45:33.960] But-
[45:33.960 -> 45:34.780] Yeah, definitely.
[45:34.780 -> 45:37.600] I don't think they have a good hang of their car yet,
[45:37.600 -> 45:39.000] you know, with the new regulations
[45:39.000 -> 45:40.520] with Fluor and everything,
[45:40.520 -> 45:41.880] you know, you have seen Oatmar,
[45:41.880 -> 45:43.240] their team principal,
[45:43.240 -> 45:45.660] gripping a lot about the change in regulations, which has, you know, you have seen Oatmart, their team principal, cribbing a lot about the change
[45:45.660 -> 45:51.380] in regulations, which has unfairly affected low rate cars, which is basically Mercedes
[45:51.380 -> 45:55.760] and Aston Martin, a lot more than the rest of the field.
[45:55.760 -> 45:59.000] So yeah, they haven't been able to adapt to the new regulations properly.
[45:59.000 -> 46:04.200] Do you think even Aston Martin sort of like looking into 2022 already?
[46:04.200 -> 46:11.480] I mean, obviously, they're going to not fall back on 2021 like Haas has obviously, but
[46:11.480 -> 46:15.000] I feel like Aston Martin is also starting to plan for 2022 already.
[46:15.000 -> 46:19.600] Yeah, I think it makes sense for them to, you know, not put in a lot of effort for this
[46:19.600 -> 46:24.520] season and concentrate a bit more on 2022 with the new regulations and everything that
[46:24.520 -> 46:25.040] are coming in.
[46:25.040 -> 46:30.240] I think also with the injection of cash that they have gotten, they are not that much dependent on
[46:30.240 -> 46:35.840] the prize money anymore. So I think their focus definitely is now towards 2022.
[46:36.640 -> 46:46.000] Speaking of us, I mean, the driver didn't disappoint. Penultimate lap he spun.
[46:46.000 -> 46:48.000] So there we have it again.
[46:48.000 -> 46:52.000] It was entertaining.
[46:52.000 -> 46:54.000] Yeah, definitely that guy didn't disappoint.
[46:54.000 -> 46:58.000] Everybody was expecting a spin from him and we did get it.
[46:58.000 -> 47:02.000] So kudos to him for maintaining the reputation.
[47:04.000 -> 47:07.000] Overall, I think it was just an amazing race.
[47:07.000 -> 47:13.000] All cars that came back home, a lovely drive from all of them.
[47:13.000 -> 47:19.000] I know we were talking about this earlier as well.
[47:19.000 -> 47:22.000] Post race also there was quite some drama.
[47:22.000 -> 47:27.680] Kimi was given that penalty after the race if I'm not wrong a lot of these penalties were actually given
[47:27.680 -> 47:34.040] after the race I think even Lance Struhl got a penalty I don't exactly
[47:34.040 -> 47:40.840] remember for what reason but yeah he got a penalty then the other one was Kimi
[47:40.840 -> 47:45.840] Kimi Raikkonen got a penalty as penalty as I said earlier that he got a penalty for
[47:45.840 -> 47:50.920] not overtaking under the safety car right after the red flag after you know
[47:50.920 -> 47:58.880] losing some positions. It was just utterly ridiculous. These clowns you know
[47:58.880 -> 48:03.560] wait for so long to be giving out these penalties and just suck the fun out of
[48:03.560 -> 48:05.860] the race and it doesn't fun out of the race.
[48:05.860 -> 48:07.840] And it doesn't make any sense to me.
[48:07.840 -> 48:10.780] The rule itself doesn't make any sense to me.
[48:10.780 -> 48:13.160] I mean, he had already lost two positions, right?
[48:13.160 -> 48:16.800] And yeah, it's just stupid.
[48:16.800 -> 48:19.880] Like for a fan, you shouldn't have to, you know,
[48:19.880 -> 48:22.480] keep checking the latest news after the race
[48:22.480 -> 48:24.400] to actually understand what the leaderboard
[48:24.400 -> 48:26.540] is going to be like.
[48:26.540 -> 48:31.860] Make these decisions quickly and keep the rules crystal clear and avoid situations like
[48:31.860 -> 48:32.860] this.
[48:32.860 -> 48:38.660] FI really needs to get their shit together with this and be consistent with things.
[48:38.660 -> 48:46.560] He should have taken the car back on the track drove two laps come back to nasa 10 seconds
[48:53.280 -> 48:58.800] oh man yeah alpha was actually doing good right i think both were in points uh kimmy was uh i don't remember what his position was but uh both were receiving it was nine right yeah and both
[48:58.800 -> 49:08.600] were receiving points and they basically got robbed of that. This is stupid. Yeah, you're right. So I was looking at this Lance troll also got demoted.
[49:09.120 -> 49:17.560] Um, cause his, his overtake on Pierre Gasly was deemed as a manure, not
[49:17.600 -> 49:19.080] completely on their track.
[49:19.160 -> 49:19.560] Yeah.
[49:19.600 -> 49:24.960] Even when actually looking at the, uh, the race, like that overtake, I think
[49:24.960 -> 49:25.520] this was one of
[49:25.520 -> 49:30.520] the more fairer penalties that they gave because he ran off the track
[49:30.520 -> 49:34.800] right after overtaking him and that is basically gaining an advantage a lasting
[49:34.800 -> 49:38.640] advantage I mean he had to at least hold the position for a couple of seconds
[49:38.640 -> 49:42.320] after gaining it and after that if he ran off the track a little would have
[49:42.320 -> 49:45.520] been fine but yeah he gained an
[49:50.960 -> 49:57.120] advantage so yeah the penalty is fair enough. I think on the Kimi one though I haven't heard him or I don't know if it's discussed but if I was to guess if anyone asked him what do you think about
[49:57.120 -> 50:01.440] it yeah well I'd have to give me a penalty. Mumble mumble mumble mumble.
[50:02.000 -> 50:08.560] mumble mumble mumble mumble yeah I think out of all the drivers Kimi is probably you know one of the
[50:08.560 -> 50:12.840] happiest to wear a mask during those interviews because you know people can't
[50:12.840 -> 50:18.040] basically anyways understand what he's saying and this is even better
[50:18.040 -> 50:27.320] well on that note I guess it's been an amazing race weekend. Any parting thoughts before we wrap it up Sarang?
[50:27.320 -> 50:32.480] Yeah, I'm quite glad that Emula was included in the calendar this year as well.
[50:32.480 -> 50:36.320] Emula has delivered great races last year and this year.
[50:36.320 -> 50:43.440] I'm glad that these old tracks are reappearing on the calendar because most of these tracks were not really designed per se,
[50:43.440 -> 50:49.160] you know, like the roads and everything already existed there those roads you know followed the
[50:49.160 -> 50:53.880] terrain of the track and like somebody came in and you know just saw that this
[50:53.880 -> 50:59.560] looks like a nice place we should race here and thus the track was born and you
[50:59.560 -> 51:05.000] know that's not exactly same for newer tracks like Bahrain
[51:05.600 -> 51:07.960] where you have these large runoff areas
[51:07.960 -> 51:12.720] and drivers tend to take advantage of such large runoffs
[51:12.720 -> 51:15.960] and these older tracks are a lot more unforgiving
[51:15.960 -> 51:20.960] and with barriers and grass and gravel surrounding tracks,
[51:21.400 -> 51:24.940] you don't need any external monitoring for track limits.
[51:24.940 -> 51:25.040] The track itself kind of enforces those limits surrounding tracks you don't need any external monitoring for track limits the
[51:25.040 -> 51:30.720] track itself kind of you know enforces those limits and all these drivers have
[51:30.720 -> 51:34.240] to be at their level best they make mistakes and they pay for it and that's
[51:34.240 -> 51:41.200] exactly what happened in this race so I'm really happy about it and I'm
[51:41.200 -> 51:51.280] I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. On that note folks, if you thought this race was exciting and the track was amazing,
[51:52.240 -> 51:57.440] hold on to your sleeves because next race is Portugal and that's an undulating track that
[51:57.440 -> 52:07.000] you've seen last year. Have so much fun with the drivers. So until next episode, this is F1 Fan Fiction. We are your
[52:07.000 -> 52:09.120] hosts signing off. Bye bye.